This invention relates to optical fibre connectors and in particular, but not exclusively, to optical fibre connectors for underwater use.
Whereas the offshore oil industry presently employs oil rig platforms from which the operation of underwater elements, valves, etc., is controlled, it is proposed that in future many such operations will be controlled remotely from the land. In view of the intrinsic requirements in force in the oil industry, the use of optical fibre systems is particularly applicable for such remote operation. In the case of valve actuation, this is usually done electrically using a very small amount of electrical power to actuate a pilot valve which then diverts hydraulic power to operate a larger valve. GB Pat. Ser. No. 2150780 describes. various optical actuators which may be used to actuate such pilot valves, or other devices, rather than doing this electrically.
It is a requirement of such remote control systems that the connection of the optical fibre cables to the devices located under the water can be made underwater and that the cable can be subsequently disconnected under the water.
In GB Application Ser. No. 2166261A there is disclosed a radial connector, that is a connector in which the fibres extend in a radial direction, relative to the axis of a cable to be connected, for the actual optical connection. The present invention is, however, concerned with an axial type of connector.